With her father being a pastor, Oluoma Aunde was baptized when she was 8-years-old. Despite that, after becoming a student at Oral Roberts University, she felt God pushing her to get re-baptized.
“I really started pursuing the Lord on my own,” Aunde said. “And I’m pursuing Jesus because I love him and not because of family pressure or cultural norms.”
Forty-two students received baptism during a chapel service in early February, with two baptismal pools set up on either side of the stage — one for women and the other for men.
To Aunde, an international relations senior, baptism is a “critical show of faith.”
“It’s a public declaration that Jesus Christ is now your Lord,” she said, “and you are no longer the Lord of your own life.”
However, Aunde is not the only person who believes in the importance of Baptism: The male ORU student population also had much to say on how baptism impacted their life.
Panashe Duncan, a leadership development junior, was baptized in Botswana before coming to ORU. His recent baptism, however, was a declaration that he is not going back to the world.
“I felt like I strayed,” Duncan said. “I felt like I heard God for the first time. I re-dedicated my life to God. I don’t want to go back — I’ve seen what the world is like. I want to be with Him. I feel humbled right now. And all I want to do right now is give God thanks.”
Ean Cloud, an international relations sophomore, had likewise been baptized before.
“I was already baptized when I was younger but it wasn’t my own decision,” Cloud said. “It wasn’t my faith, it was something I had inherited, so it trapped me in legalism. [Now] it’s my own decision and that’s a lot more responsibility.”
